SEC Pitcher of the Year Aidan King celebrates an inning-ending strikeout during his seven-inning shutout victory over the Ole Miss Rebels on April 3, 2026 at Condron Family Ballpark in Gainesville, Fla. / UAA Communications photo by Madilyn Gemme
Aidan King Named 2026 SEC Pitcher of the Year
Monday, May 18, 2026 | Baseball
Sophomore Aidan King is the first Gator to earn SEC Pitcher of the Year honors as an underclassman.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida Gators ace right-hander Aidan King has been named the 2026 Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Year, as announced by the league office on Monday afternoon.
Culminating a truly masterful regular season for the sophomore hurler, King is the fourth Gator to collect SEC Pitcher of the Year honors all-time and the first since Brady Singer in 2018. The Jacksonville, Fla. native is the only Florida underclassmen to earn the SEC's highest pitching accolade, as Justin Hoyman (2004), Logan Shore (2016) and Singer were all named Pitcher of the Year in their junior campaigns. King is just the fifth SEC underclassman among 23 recipients to take home the honor.
Florida is now tied with LSU for the most SEC Pitcher of the Year recipients (four) since the award was established in 2003. Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan has produced three SEC Pitchers of the Year in the last 10 postseason cycles.
Along with claiming SEC Pitcher of the Year status, King was tabbed to the All-SEC First Team as a starting pitcher. Monday's news comes just four days after King was announced as a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy.
Never missing his turn in the rotation, King paced the SEC with a 0.93 WHIP and 14 games started – good for sixth and 11th in the country, respectively. King's miniscule 2.50 ERA ranked second in the league and is line to be the lowest by a Gator since Michael Byrne in 2017 (1.67). Firing a team-high eight quality starts including six in SEC play, King finished with an unearthly .199 batting average against while sitting third in the SEC in walks per nine (1.82), fifth in hits allowed per nine (6.58), fifth in innings pitched (79 1/3), fifth in wins (eight) and seventh in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.25) – ranking among the top-40 pitchers nationally in every category.
Working into the seventh inning five times against conference opponents, King averaged 6.2 frames per SEC start while his 62.0 SEC innings pitched trailed only Tyler Fay of Alabama. In SEC action, King led all starting pitchers with a 0.89 WHIP while tying for the league lead in victories (six). The second-year righty also held SEC hitters to a .184 batting average and went 6-1 in 10 conference starts.
Over the full season, King fanned 84 batters while only issuing 16 free passes in 79 1/3 frames. As a true workhorse, he failed to complete five innings just three times all season and just once in SEC play. King surrendered 58 hits all year long, with 15 going for extra bases and three leaving the yard – equating to 0.3 home runs allowed per nine. King even defended his position to perfect execution, as his 13 chances were the most among UF pitchers with a 1.000 fielding percentage.
From April 3 through May 1, King delivered the most-dominant, five-week stretch by an SEC pitcher this spring. Facing Ole Miss, No. 3 Georgia, No. 13 Auburn, No. 7 Texas A&M and No. 15 Oklahoma, he went 4-0 with five-straight quality starts and a 1.51 ERA across 35 2/3 frames for an average of 7.1 innings per outing. As a result, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association voted him April's National Pitcher of the Month.
Across his last 19 starts dating back to the 2025 campaign, King is 12-3 with a 1.91 ERA and 112-to-26 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 118.0 innings pitched (25 earned runs allowed).
Following Monday's announcement, King and the Gators are set to travel to the 2026 SEC Baseball Tournament in Hoover, Ala. Receiving a bye into the second round as the No. 5 seed, Florida takes on the winner of No. 12 seed Vanderbilt vs. No. 13 seed Kentucky on Wednesday, May 20 in the second game of the day at the Hoover Met (approximately 2 p.m. ET on SEC Network).
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Culminating a truly masterful regular season for the sophomore hurler, King is the fourth Gator to collect SEC Pitcher of the Year honors all-time and the first since Brady Singer in 2018. The Jacksonville, Fla. native is the only Florida underclassmen to earn the SEC's highest pitching accolade, as Justin Hoyman (2004), Logan Shore (2016) and Singer were all named Pitcher of the Year in their junior campaigns. King is just the fifth SEC underclassman among 23 recipients to take home the honor.
Florida is now tied with LSU for the most SEC Pitcher of the Year recipients (four) since the award was established in 2003. Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan has produced three SEC Pitchers of the Year in the last 10 postseason cycles.
Along with claiming SEC Pitcher of the Year status, King was tabbed to the All-SEC First Team as a starting pitcher. Monday's news comes just four days after King was announced as a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy.
Never missing his turn in the rotation, King paced the SEC with a 0.93 WHIP and 14 games started – good for sixth and 11th in the country, respectively. King's miniscule 2.50 ERA ranked second in the league and is line to be the lowest by a Gator since Michael Byrne in 2017 (1.67). Firing a team-high eight quality starts including six in SEC play, King finished with an unearthly .199 batting average against while sitting third in the SEC in walks per nine (1.82), fifth in hits allowed per nine (6.58), fifth in innings pitched (79 1/3), fifth in wins (eight) and seventh in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.25) – ranking among the top-40 pitchers nationally in every category.
Working into the seventh inning five times against conference opponents, King averaged 6.2 frames per SEC start while his 62.0 SEC innings pitched trailed only Tyler Fay of Alabama. In SEC action, King led all starting pitchers with a 0.89 WHIP while tying for the league lead in victories (six). The second-year righty also held SEC hitters to a .184 batting average and went 6-1 in 10 conference starts.
One true KING of the SEC! 👑🏆 pic.twitter.com/tfX0LalVdJ
— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) May 18, 2026
Over the full season, King fanned 84 batters while only issuing 16 free passes in 79 1/3 frames. As a true workhorse, he failed to complete five innings just three times all season and just once in SEC play. King surrendered 58 hits all year long, with 15 going for extra bases and three leaving the yard – equating to 0.3 home runs allowed per nine. King even defended his position to perfect execution, as his 13 chances were the most among UF pitchers with a 1.000 fielding percentage.
From April 3 through May 1, King delivered the most-dominant, five-week stretch by an SEC pitcher this spring. Facing Ole Miss, No. 3 Georgia, No. 13 Auburn, No. 7 Texas A&M and No. 15 Oklahoma, he went 4-0 with five-straight quality starts and a 1.51 ERA across 35 2/3 frames for an average of 7.1 innings per outing. As a result, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association voted him April's National Pitcher of the Month.
Across his last 19 starts dating back to the 2025 campaign, King is 12-3 with a 1.91 ERA and 112-to-26 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 118.0 innings pitched (25 earned runs allowed).
Following Monday's announcement, King and the Gators are set to travel to the 2026 SEC Baseball Tournament in Hoover, Ala. Receiving a bye into the second round as the No. 5 seed, Florida takes on the winner of No. 12 seed Vanderbilt vs. No. 13 seed Kentucky on Wednesday, May 20 in the second game of the day at the Hoover Met (approximately 2 p.m. ET on SEC Network).
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